No shocker there, in those games we got 0 outside pressure from our OLB, which the LB core got crushed this year with injuries, and Connor Barwin all but dissappeared and did his best Mario Williams imitation.

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Vance Joseph I was wrong, enjoying the slice of humble pie I've been served.

...and Connor Barwin all but dissappeared and did his best Mario Williams imitation.

Williams had his share of underachievment here in Houston. But, he never had a dismal season such as Barwin's. Barwin was lined up half the time next to the best pass rusher in the league. And he could only come up with 3 sacks? To top that, this was a contract year. I'd like to know what happened to this guy.

Plain and simple the value of Cushing has been seen this year. Watt is the best player on the defense but Cushing is MVP of our defense. Cushing calls the defense never leaves the field and is a beast in the running game and the 2nd best pass rusher on the team. The defense went down hill with his loss.

Shaun Cody is non-existant. He needs to go, let Earl Mitchell take over full time. People really did take Mario for granted last year and thought that Barwin and Reed were better than they really were. Linebacker help is sorely needed. We cant start Ruud in the AFC divisional game and expect to win. As much help as we need at WR I would not be surprised if we drafted Minter out of LSU and expect him to start right away. Either that or resign James for 1 more year to let him grow then put him out there the next year. Shiloh Keo is not worthy of starting, and Brandon Harris was EXTREMELY spotty this year. This was not the same D as the 2011 season, and after Cushing go injured the sloppiness continued, particularly vs. quality teams (PATS)

im actually good with our db's. they do good enough considering how often they're all left in single coverage. the only db that needs upgrading is the demps/keo dime safety. either that or find a way to work harris & brice both into that formation next yr.

all our front 7 not named JJ, antonio & cush need to play better. maybe if we were able to get pressure with 4, wade will ease back on the suicidal blitzing

We need a playmaking Safety. We don't, and never have, had one. I like Quin, we really need to re-sign him, and Manning is good too. But we run so many Nickel & Dime sets that we need good depth players too. Losing McCain really hurt us in both NE games and the lack of another solid Safety did as well. Demps was awful in both games.

If we seriously commit any more high draft picks, or majority of the free agency money, to the defense... then I don't want to hear any more complaining about the offense, Schaub, or Kubiak. we can't keep asking the offense to make something out of nothing.

Having Brian Cushing back will fix a lot of the problems, aka the middle of the field being so wide open. When healthy, he's arguably the best MLB in the game. Total beast who can stuff the run and defend the fast TE's in pass coverage downfield. We desperately missed him in that New England game yesterday. He would have completely shut down those Brady passes to Hernandez and the backs.

We didn't have the players to run a proper 3-4 defense once he was lost for the season against the Jets. Not to mention Tim Dobbin's injury hurt our depth big time. We should have switched to a 4-3 given how weak our inside linebackers were due to injuries.

We do need another pass rusher at right end and an upgrade at nose tackle. We can definitely improve up front. Add another playmaker to the defensive line so teams will pay when they use two blockers to slow down J.J. Watt.

What is Antonio Smith's contract status? Does he have another year or two left on it? I like the Ninja but we need to upgrade over him eventually. The guy we need is sadly, going to go number one overall in the 2014 draft. We'd have to trade up or have a bad season in 2013 to land him.

Tell me you guys haven't had wet dreams at night thinking about this beast playing alongside Watt and Cushing for the next decade? We'd be an unstoppable force. Not to mention Mercilus, as I have high hopes for him yet.

Yes, he can. I considered him the heart and soul of our defense even though J.J. Watt is our best defensive player and the defensive player of the year in the entire NFL. Look at the impact Ray Lewis is having on the Ravens during his emotional return for this year's playoffs. He's not even half the player he used to be talent wise but just having Ray Lewis changes the entire attitude of that team. A healthy Brian Cushing, is in my opinion, the best MLB/ILB in the game.

Yes, he can. I considered him the heart and soul of our defense even though J.J. Watt is our best defensive player and the defensive player of the year in the entire NFL. Look at the impact Ray Lewis is having on the Ravens during his emotional return for this year's playoffs. He's not even half the player he used to be talent wise but just having Ray Lewis changes the entire attitude of that team. A healthy Brian Cushing, is in my opinion, the best MLB/ILB in the game.

Nope. Ain't buying it.

Yea, he means alot to our team. But enough to have that huge of a drop-off from last year? For our defense to give up 27 TD - 0 Ints against those 6 QBs?

If you think that, then our D's problems will all go away and will regain 2010 form. That if we had Cushing, we wouldn't had our *******s torn apart by the elite QBs. If that's true, Then we DON'T need to address defense in the first 2 rounds of the draft.

But, if you truly think that everything will be fine with just Cushing back, then you're freaking' nuts.

I'm not saying we don't need help on defense. Losing Ryans and Cushing killed the ILB position. Losing Barwin to a season ending suckfest killed the OLB position. But here's the thing - the rules are set up so that QBs like the ones you mentioned are going to get theirs. So even if the defense had been better, those QBs were going to get yards and TDs. So we need an offense that has a QB that can get TDs.

__________________Hey O'Brien: "How do you tell a guy who is used to catching 80 balls a year that he was going to catch 40?"... You jackass.

Williams had his share of underachievment here in Houston. But, he never had a dismal season such as Barwin's. Barwin was lined up half the time next to the best pass rusher in the league. And he could only come up with 3 sacks? To top that, this was a contract year. I'd like to know what happened to this guy.

Lance Z. has said on a couple occassions that Barwin lead the league in untouched sacks with 7 in 2011. Claims that most of these were from a particular stunt that the Texans used well 2011 that team figured out in 2012.

short answer..2011 may have been the fraud season.

__________________It doesn't just seem like I was talking down to people, I was. (Runner 8/4/09).

No shocker there, in those games we got 0 outside pressure from our OLB, which the LB core got crushed this year with injuries, and Connor Barwin all but dissappeared and did his best Mario Williams imitation.

Wait.... what???? Barwin and Williams aren't the same guy??? I've never seen the two guys in the same place at the same time....

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That said, I know every team experiences injuries, but the Texans defense was seriously disadvantaged without Cushing and the extremely dessimated at the ILB position coupled with JJo's lingering groin injury.

Conclusion?
Not Bulls on Charade let alone Bulls on Parade. Somewhere in between.

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With regards to the offense, CnD nailed the tapering off of Schaub as a result of the Linsfranc injury as the season progressed. Those that never read that post (or series of posts), highly recommended reading.

He may never be 100% again. I would recommend to the Texans that they draft a QB in the 3rd round or so. First round should be an ILB or WR and the second round should be an ILB or a WR....

the peyton manning game i remember about 4 dropped INTs, balls that literally hit our dbs in the hands and were just dropped.. against stafford alan ball dropped a TD saving pick. rodgers and brady seemed to always be throwing to open guys..

if youre drafting DBs should we expect any of them to come in and immediately make an impact. pass rush and ILB are where we should draft. someone to beast onlong side cush or d-line help. someone that can make an impact, not sit for a year like merci did..

What if we draft a 1st round Safety and he turns into an All-Pro. Bad decision?

Kubiak has stated they will be going BPA at the top of the draft and filling needs as it progresses.

Did you see the way the defense changed when Cushing got injured? If Bradie James does't get resigned, which is a good possibility, then you have Cushing and Barrett Ruud. Sorry, but you will not win a super bowl with Barrett Ruud as your starting ILB. Ruud is a serviceable backup. Same goes with Dobbins. Sharpton has proven that he is pretty much incapable of playing good football. We need a stud like Minter from LSU to finally fill the hole that has been there since we let DeMeco go last season.